SAMOA

Hokitika Guardian, 19 March 1930, Page 3

SAMOA

& AIR COBBE’S VISIT.

MINISTER SATISFIED WITH OUTLOOK.

CONFERENCE WITH CHIEFS. £v AUCKLAND, March 17. The “Herald’s” special representative, who returned from Samoa by the steamer Tofua late to-night,' writes : The visit of the-Hon. J;,,G. Cobbe, a member of the New Zealand Cabinet, to Samoa, resulted in the fugitive Mau being brought-to a conference.,.at Vainios'e, with the! Minister !aiid ; the Ad-

ministrator, Mf S. S. Alien: The conference was opened on Monday of last iveek, overtures for a truce had previously been ■carried out by missionaries -and others, who displayed great tact. It was the first occasion on which the Mau chiefs had met the present Administrator. .At the first, of the fonos, or conferences, the Administrator made three demands: That the Mau organisation should end, that the men wanted by the police surrender themselves, and that the chiefs should meet the Administrator when summoned to any future fono. . os}io altitude ;of Mau'jatitljis stage was one of quiet defiance, with a trace pfjrtlje: old Mau was .given in whicfi . to discuss | tlie cTemaifdsl At a" .Second" meeting the Mau spokesman asked for further time. His attitude was distinctly .friendly filthotigh There was andnideieuf-rent. It was equally evident that there was an intention, to - draw out; the truc.e. in-' definitely. A third meeting on Wednesday produced the decision to give up the •wanted men. There was much verbal fencimr, the Mau clearly indicating its intention to remain in Vaimoso. ■ On the fourth fono day, Faumuina gave the defiant answer: “The .Mail will not end. Samoa is the Mau.” ...The Administrator then announced the end of the truce for Friday morning. On the Thursday afternoon, at a through •T l uiihal4alirfano„ a.; further fono, was .graphed, and the -hist- meeting- : hi>ld On Friday morning,; wlien a letter containing 17 points was presented. ■ • Mr Allen’s,-rpply covered-the whole

sitbntiop.* He offered •to call a fono re-j, presentntive of of Samoa almost immediately, bu.t Fanmuinn

'■a:d-’■the Mau could 'not join with the satisfied loyal Samoans until’ the Man wrongs were redrcssM. His final wm-ds" .\vere “T ; b,e..Mnu will not.disperse: DooVhgt von like-with us.’.'Ycn • The Administrator then announced the end of the truce the following "mOrninef". and Taid" ho expected the •;to stand.'.by j.ts promise in: restart! ‘o the ”-ai + o,] nien. That afternoon the wanted men marched in a body to the police; station. It. was .evirWyt.*Hirough out, that much •of' fho ■ tf-p, : elno-'ence was in ter tied for +'>'• rank and file, cl' the audience, and in spite of,.the point blank refusal to disperse, there were sighs that this ; resolution \yas crumbling. For insancc the...Ravli party asked permission to return to. their •’boats and return to Micir oivii island at"" the same time as the wanted men surrended, Ad,vice received on the .Tofua during the voyage is to the effect that the dispersal is proceeding quietly, and the situation , was sufficiently reassuring to permit the warship Dunedin to leave for New Zealand last Friday.

Mr r.'ohhe’is attitude throughout was oneof,firm support for the Administration. During the preliminary negotiations efforts were made to induce him to meet the Mau chiefs alone. This was an old Samoan method of trying out a new man in the hope that the local authority might be over-ridden. Mr Cobbe, regarding this as a last '=:.pcdicnfc, ( ,declined, and by every word and,-action ■ throughout the fonos made ip'l evident’that settlement remained with the Administrator alone. Mr Cobbe states that he is very satisfied withresults to date. He make no claim to having personally

brought about the conference and the partial..surreyd.er,, but undoubtedly his presence was a great help. , His new outldole Brought fresh zeal to the -eP--fdrts of those . -seekirigLT.peace..’, I The. 'Administrator,.did hot lack the.'.'.will to make an effort, hut overtures from him yvlone would have been prejudiced by the inherited handicaps of his position, accentuated by the hate engendered hv recent events. Mr Cobbe considered the outlook very satisfactory. He is undoubtedly entitled to a largo measure of credit. The Administrator’s final speech dealt .in. masterly manner with the whole question. Referring to self-govern-ment, he asked if any Samoan was yet running a large business, and if any. were fit to take charge of education,; the-hospitals, the Treasury, and the harbours. There were none with the required qualifications. Mr Allen emphasised the futility of the Mau petitioning the League of Nations, his .Majesty the TCing, or any other authority, or relying upon the promises of. outsiders They now must realise that all these efforts were foredoomed to failure, .and that the only way was to deal with the local representatives of . New.,.Zealand which was the representative of Great Britain, which in turn was a member of the League of Nations. Tliis implied meeting together to discuss the affairs of the country. Tins the Mau had consistently refused to do for three years, and thus, out of the whole and its dependencies, they were the only body of native people who took no share in their own government.